


DECKLESS

by Mistwolf_Magic



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Families of Choice, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Canon, Sick Character, Social Links | Confidants (Persona Series), Stream of Consciousness, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28159317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistwolf_Magic/pseuds/Mistwolf_Magic
Summary: Wild Cards have their Deck of Arcana. These bonds are what make them strong.When those bonds are cut off, it is the Fool who suffers the most.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 74





	DECKLESS

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I Hope You All Can Forgive Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22471873) by [Cypress_Dream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cypress_Dream/pseuds/Cypress_Dream). 
  * Inspired by [Get It Back to Good](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707971) by [JudasComplex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudasComplex/pseuds/JudasComplex). 



> This story is dedicated to the above mentioned stories, and every other Persona 4 and 5 story where Yu/Souji and Ren/Akira struggle with going home.

Ren missed his friends as though he was missing an limb. Or maybe just his heart.

That sounded about right.

  
It had started while he was in Juvie after the fight with Yaldaboth, waiting to be cleared of his previous record. It had gotten better when he'd been with them again. 

  
But…

  
The Thieves had dropped him off to a cold house – his father was out of town for business and his mother did little more than ‘tsk’ at nothing whenever he was in the room, she never looked at him. And everyone at the school was still wary of him even though the truth of his original arrest was announced. 

  
But Morgana had come back with him and he spent most of his time on his phone texting the others. So it was okay. He could manage. He could ignore the persistent dull ache in his heart.

  
Until his father came home.

  
Morgana was forced to run – run or be killed. Within a week his phone lay crushed under his father's heel; his computer meeting the same fate.

  
To keep him from contacting his friends. 

  
The ache in his chest grew into agony, until it was hard for him to breathe. He got in trouble at school when he collapsed during fitness class and was unable to get back up. His grades slipped as his mind became muddled and his focus shattered. Migraines were his constant companion 

  
And the more he struggled with school, the angrier his father got. 

  
He wasn’t sure when his father's blows stopped hurting. When his body was just too numb to feel the bruises forming on his body and face. It was nothing compared to his time in the Interrogation Room. It was nothing compared to the gaping wounds on his soul. 

  
He thought he may have heard Arsene trying to speak with him during the months, but his Persona's voice was lost amidst the buzzing in his head and the fog of his very existence.   
He couldn’t even remember what he was hurting for anymore. He needed something, but every time he tried to remember what it was, it vanished like water in a sieve. 

  
Coughing up blood was a bad thing, right? He wasn’t sure anymore. 

  
He didn’t go to the house much anymore. Couldn’t remember when he'd last gone to class. The days blurred together. 

  
He distantly felt cool hand on his face and he tried to open his eyes. When had he closed them? “…hey… re you okay…?” Steel grey eyes swam in front of him. A rasping breath escaped and blood dribbled from his lips, he felt a hand run comfortingly through his sweat drenched hair.

  
When had he last been touched? 

  
He didn’t even know where he was right now.

  
He thought he heard some more talking, and then he was being picked up, cradled gently in strong arms. Whoever was carrying him was far too broad to be Yusuke, but for some reason the two of them felt somehow similar, and the pseudo-familiar presence soothed some of his ragged nerves. He was unaware of opening his mouth and, barely a whisper, a word slipped out. “ _Emperor_.” 

* * *

  
“ _Emperor_."

He almost missed the boy's voice, but his words had the silver haired young man freezing in horror. 

  
No.

  
He thought he was dealing with a neglected, abused, and sick child. Which was bad enough.

  
But this? This was even worse.

  
His friend, who was carrying the other boy, stopped himself, looking in surprise and concern at his companion. The smaller of the two men lunged forward, gripping the face of the dark haired boy. “Hey! Hey, look at me!” he demanded harshly, shaking the boy to make him open his eyes, though he wasn’t sure how much the glazed onyx actually saw.

“Wild Card!” he snapped, hearing a surprised intake of breath from his friend. “C'mon, stay with me.” The boy's eyes focused just a tiny amount and Narukami Yu released a tight breath of relief. “Where's your Deck? Hey! Where's your Deck?!” 

  
“Toh… ‘yo…” the thready voice answered after too long a pause, blood spilling over his lips at the words. Yu sighed; far too far away to help him now. What had happened to his fellow Wild Card to have him in such a bad condition? 

  
“Do you have your key?” Yu's fingers were digging into the boy's cheeks, fighting to keep his fading attention on him. “Your Velvet Key, _do you have it_?” 

  
Finally, a weak nod. The only good news so far. Yu dropped to his knees and Kanji placed the boy into his Leader's arms. 

  
Gripping both keys, Yu shifted the two of them into his Velvet Room. 

  
“Greetings – oh my gosh!” Margaret's cultured voice broke as her Guest appeared on the opposite seat of the Limo, his arms wrapped around a frail dark haired Wild Card. 

  
“Who's his Attendant?!” Yu demanded desperately. “They'll be in his Deck, _who is it?”_

  
“I, ah, Lavenza.” She managed to answer, immediately calling for her little sister. 

  
“Margaret? What – My Trickster!!!” The young Attendant screamed as she appeared in the Limo, launching herself across the Master's table to reach Ren. “Oh, my poor Trickster… what happened?” 

  
“He said his Deck's in Tokyo?” Yu asked as her fingers brushed frantically across the boy's face. 

  
“Y-yes. You'll want to contact Sakura Futuba, she was their Navigator. She can get the rest of his Team together. I can give you her phone number.” 

  
“Once he's stable, I’ll call her immediately.” Yu promised, running his fingers through Ren's matted hair; offering his own power as a Wild Card to strengthen the dying boy in his arms. “What does his Core Deck look like?” 

  
“Chariot. Magician. Empress. Lovers. Priestess. Hermit. Emperor.” Lavenza recited, laying her hands over Ren's heart. 

  
“I’ll get my Deck to help. It should at least keep him stable until they get here.” 

  
“Thank you,” she whispered, tears starting to trail down her cheeks, “thank you for finding him.” 

  
“I’m glad I wasn’t too late.” 

* * *

  
Sakura Futuba was worried. She'd admit it. It had been almost three months since Ren had last contacted any of them. 

  
One day he was texting like normal. The next, total silence. 

  
Morgana had showed up a week after that, saying that Ren had sent him back to Tokyo without much explanation. Or at least not one the cat knew of. 

  
He went back to look for Ren a week ago. Still no news. 

  
Her phone rang, an unfamiliar number flashing on her screen. She declined the call.

Then the phone rang again. 

  
She answered this time. “Moshimoshi.”

  
_“Sakura Futaba?”_

  
“That's me.”

  
_“My name is Narukami Yu. I’m calling about your friend, Amamiya Ren.”_

  
“What's happened to him? Why are you calling? We haven’t heard from him in months.”

  
_“…Amamiya-kun is very sick, Sakura-san.”_

  
Her heart stops. “Is he going to be okay?” Please. She can’t lose him. Not her Key Item. Her Brother. 

  
_“He’s… stable, for now. You and your Team need to come as soon as you can. Yesterday, preferably.”_

  
“Where?” 

  
_“Inaba. The Amagi Inn.”_

  
What was Ren doing in Inaba if he was sick? He lives a couple of cities away from there. And the Inn? Shouldn’t he be in a Hospital? 

  
_“Tell them you’re the Narukami group.”_

  
“Okay. We'll be there as fast as we can.”

  
_“Hurry.”_

  
And he hung up. 

  
Futaba clutched her phone, curling around herself. Ren was sick? It sounded bad, if stable was all Narukami could promise.

Stable only meant he wasn't actively dying. 

  
Shaking her head, Futaba pulled her phone away from her chest and sent out a text. 

  
They were going to see Ren. 

* * *

They picked up Morgana on their way. 

  
It was a frantic group that entered the Amagi Inn less than a day later. The staff welcomed them immediately once Makoto told them they were with Narukami. 

  
They got to the designated room and hurried inside. Ren lay on a futon in the corner of the room, a blanket covered him from the waist but he was shirtless, putting his bruises on vivid display against his pale skin. A damp cloth rested in his forehead and a woman dressed in the Inn uniform traded it for a fresh one from a nearby bowl as they entered. His eyes were half lidded and vacant. His face caught between blank and in pain. It almost didn’t seem like he was even breathing. 

  
A silver haired man was sitting on the futon next to Ren. A short haired woman was sitting at a low table nearby going over some paperwork and man wearing headphones was in another corner. They were stopped from rushing to their Leader and friend by a third man; tall, broad, with bleached blond hair. “Woah, hey, y'all can’t just mob'im. Yeh could hurt ‘im.” 

  
“What's wrong with him?” Morgana demanded. “if he's so badly off then why isn’t he in a Hospital?!”

  
“Because this has to do with Persona.” The man holding their friend – who Futaba recognized by his voice as Narukami – answered, slightly surprising them. “A hospital wouldn’t be able to do anything.” 

  
“Go ahead and come over. One at a time. Just let Amamiya-kun know you’re here.” The woman by the bed instructed gently. 

  
They took turns kneeling at Ren's side, brushing back his bangs, resting a hand on his shoulder, squeezing his hand. Telling their Leader they were here for him now. Futaba had gone last and simply curled up next to her brother on the futon. Morgana joined her, tucked between the two. 

  
Ren didn’t respond to any of it. 

  
“What's wrong with Ren?” Haru asked softly, fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. 

  
“It's called Deckless…” Narukami answered, “and it's – hn – it's basically a withdrawal.”

  
“Withdrawal?” Makoto questioned, “like from a drug?”

  
He sighed, “How much did he tell you about how being a Wild Card works?”

  
Not much. He had mentioned to Futaba once that his friends gave him more power; but – 

  
“Right then, Yoskue?”

  
“You got it, Partner.” The guy with the headphones pulled a thin stack of cards from one of the backpacks in the room and the other woman cleared her papers from the table so he could use it. 

  
“Every person, at their core, can be assigned a Major Arcanum. As a Wild Card, Amamiya-kun and I are both Fools,” Narukami explained while Yoskue put down the Fool Card from a Tarot Deck. “Fools represent, among other things, Limitless Potential. Not every Fool is a Wild Card, but every Wild Card is a Fool. Alone, the Fool isn’t really all that powerful, but a Wild Card has the ability to create bonds with other Arcana. That gives us the multiple Persona, and makes not only us, but our Team stronger.

  
“A Wild Card will have one specific person that their bond for that Arcana is strongest with. Those people are referred to as our ‘Deck'.” 

  
“So, by saying ‘Deckless' you’re sayn' that Ren has no Deck? We're right here!?” 

  
“No.” Narukami's voice was harsh. “ _You were in Tokyo_. Hours away and he had no way to contact you.” 

  
“That may not be your fault, him being alone. But he was still alone.” Yosuke tried to placate them. 

  
“Their fault or not,” Narukami hissed, “if Kanji and I hadn’t found him when we did – he would have died.” 

  
“We tried to contact him!” Ann cried, “he stopped responding to us. We didn’t know he needed us.”

  
“We should have.” Yusuke murmured, “He is our friend and Leader. It was remiss of us to just accept the silence for so long.” 

  
“Being separated from your Deck at all is difficult.” Narukami admitted. “I struggled when I first left. I got sick too, but it wasn’t as bad as this. I kept in contact with everyone.” 

  
“Based on Amamiya-kun’s bruises we think he was being abused,” the short haired woman spoke for the first time, “If he stopped texting you suddenly, his phone was probably taken from him.” 

  
“The separation itself is hard enough. But to have his Deck cut from him violently like this…” Narukami shuddered. “His soul was reaching out for yours, but it couldn’t reach, and his body paid the price for it. I don't know how long or how fast he degraded… but…” 

  
Futaba clutched tighter at Ren, smothering a whimper into the futon. “Is he going to be okay?” 

  
“Now that you're all here and we’re not trying to support him with my Deck instead of his. Yes. It will take a while, but he should pull through.” 

  
They were finally introduced properly to everyone: Hanamura Yosuke, Narukami's Magician; Satonaka Chie, his Chariot; Amagi Yukiko, his Priestess, and Tatsumi Kanji, his Emperor. 

  
They learned what Arcana they each filled in Ren's Deck. 

  
It would be hours later that Ren stirred under Futaba's grip and Yu's gentle petting. 

* * *

There was a low murmur of conversation. Fingers carding through his hair. A familiar warmth at his side. 

  
The pain that had been his constant companion for who knows how long was faded now. He was laying on something soft. He took a deep breath. No coughing fit. His chest didn’t hurt. 

  
A ceiling swam into view as he blinked open his eyes. 

  
“Amamiya-kun?” a voice – that maybe sounded familiar? – spoke gently. The fingers in his hair paused. A man with silver hair and steel eyes was lounging beside him. His were the finger in his hair. 

  
He blinked up at him and the man smiled.

“Welcome back. How are you feeling?”   
He opened his mouth but struggled to get sound out. He turned his head to find Futaba cuddled against his side and Morgana curled up on the blanket over his legs. Both asleep.   
“Your Teammates are all here.” The silver stranger told him. “They’re asleep right now. It's late, and they drove most of the night before.” 

  
“…-who?”

  
“I'm Narukami Yu. I’m a Wild Card like you.” Yes. He could sense the power in the man’s soul. “I found you passed out on the Samegawa Floodplain just over two days ago.” 

  
“…what happened? Why are the others…?”

  
“You’ve been sick for a long time, haven’t you.” Yu hummed sadly, he dragged his fingers through Ren's hair again and sighed. “You were Deckless.”

  
Ren closed his eyes. Deckless. Yeah. That sounded about right. 

  
“I think I knew… that I was sick…” he stopped to catch his breath, “but by the time I realized… I was too far gone.” 

  
“I’m not surprised. You were more dead than alive when my Emperor and I found you. I had to take you to my Velvet Room to stabilize you.” 

  
He opened his eyes again. Yu took him to his Velvet Room? “Thank you… for letting me into your Room. Even if I don’t remember.” 

  
“Ren?” a sleepy voice asked, then Morgana sat up. “Ren!” The cat nuzzled his cheek, standing carefully on his chest. “You’re awake! Thank goodness.” 

  
“Mona.” Ren murmured raising the hand not held captive by Futaba to pet his friend. “It's good to see you again.” 

  
His movements woke Futaba, and soon Ren was surrounded by his Team. Yu freed himself with a chuckle and stepped out of the room to give them all some privacy. 

  
Ryuji started crying as soon as the door closed. He didn’t even try to hide it, just sniffling and scooting closer to Ren. “We were so worried about you, dude. I knew something was wrong. I knew it! But I was stupid and didn’t do anything…” he scrubbed at his eyes with his wrist, “an’ then Futaba got that call from Narukami…”

  
“You looked almost like Shiho did when she was in that coma after…” Ann was crying too at this point. 

  
Ren tried to sit up but he realized just how weak he really was right now. He resigned himself to being propped up on a stack of pillows by Yusuke and Haru and just generally fussed over by everyone else. 

  
He knew that he'd scared them. So it was okay. 

  
And he'd missed them so desperately. He didn’t care what they did. So long as they were here. 

  
His Team shared some of what had been happening in Tokyo in Ren's absence. 

  
Makoto was helping Toranosuke at least once a week now. Ironically enough, she hadn’t realized that Ren had done the same until Tora mentioned it. 

  
Haru had met by chance and became friends with Hifumi at a function, the two now going out for lunch often. They bonded over the struggle of overbearing and controlling parents. Haru's grief giving Hifumi a new perspective. 

  
Mishima had some sort of internship going on with Ichiko. They barely knew what he was up to half the time. And weren’t sure they wanted to. 

  
Ryuji officially worked at Iwai's, earning money to help his Mom. Had become friends with Kaoru. He was also getting some good advice on handling his reputation – deserved or not. 

  
Futaba was still trolling the web and had started a text friendship with Shinya. They really only talked about Video Games, but Futaba was pleased. 

  
Yusuke had gotten several pieces into some local exhibits and had – oddly enough – become friends of a sort with Takemi; he was her new test subject in exchange for money, but she was also doing a workup to help him with some of the medical effects of growing up under Madarame. 

  
Without fail, once a week, the entire group met at LeBlanc for lunch. And to worry about Ren, apparently. 

  
Which they pointed out ended up being an entirely fair thing for them to do. 

  
Ren had just started trying explain what his school was like when a light knock sounded and the door opened to let Yu inside. 

  
“Speaking of your hometown, you know you’re not going back there, right?” He pointed out, “Even ignoring the bruises, you’re still sick. If you separate from your Deck again so soon you’ll only relapse.” 

  
“Where else am I going to go?” Ren asked, “I don’t know that Father is going to let me leave just like that.”

  
“Ano…” Futaba blushed and hid her face behind her phone, “… Dad’s already signed guardianship papers. If you're interested. He would’ve come with us, but he couldn’t close the Café.” 

  
Yu frowned thoughtfully. “…Hierophant?” 

  
“How'd you know?” 

  
“He sounds like my Uncle. Lucky guess.” Yu then offered, “One of my friends has some connections in the Domestic Courts. She could see about getting you away from your parents legally.” 

  
“I can ask Nae-san too,” Makoto added, “she'll help.” 

  
“In any case, your safety and well-being is more important to us than legalities.” Yusuke reminded him.

  
“If we had known about everything earlier, we'd’ve kidnapped you months ago, dude.” 

  
“Dad wants to know if you want the spare room at the house or to go back to the attic.” Futaba called, typing away at her phone. “He needs to know which one to get ready.” 

  
“Huh? The house is an option?” 

  
“Duh, once the guardianship papers go through he'll basically be your dad too. It'd make sense for you to have a room at the house. But if you’d prefer the attic we can do that too.” 

  
“Uh,” Ren blushed slightly, “the house then.” He wanted them close right now. Maybe at some point he'd move back into LeBlanc’s attic. But for now… 

  
As much as he was doing better, Ren was still sick, and soon began dosing off. The others piled onto the futon with him. 

  
Soon he would be back in Tokyo with a new phone and Narukami's number programed in. His father would throw a fit when he was handed the Guardianship Papers and get arrested for attacking an officer. Ren would slowly regain the strength he lost to being ill. He'd be re-enrolled at Shujin and start filling out College Applications. Life would find a new normal. 

  
But for now, he would sleep surrounded by the warmth of his Team.

  
Of his Family. 

  
And he would never be Deckless again. 

**Author's Note:**

> I may do a second chapter going into more detail of Ren's downward spiral if people are interested.


End file.
